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By Andrea C.E. , Author – December 2024

Initially, I must admit, I was a panster. Even at school, I groaned when the teacher used to give me back my paper, telling me I had to do an outline, and worse! Write a draft! I mean, it just took out the fun. I wanted to get into the story or topic and see where it would take me. Trust me, I have had some arguments since I was in the 5th grade because of this…

Fast forward to when I started writing my novels. I did the same cause I know best, right? Well, of course that led to some pretty big frustrations; the usual tearing and crumpling of a page, throwing it on the paper basket and starting again. Deleting that Word file or just putting it there among all the other documents on my PC. Or worse, writing 30+ pages and then stopping because I didn’t know the big question: what happens next?

Well some years ago, I decided to go looking for author resources , comparing myself to other fellow writers’s writing process to see what I was doing wrong, and how to fix it without having to make an outline- because that was just me looking for some excuse not to do one.

Well, turns out pretty big names like Stephen King don’t do outlines either. In his book “On Writing” he writes that an outline for him is “the good writer’s last resort and the dullard’s first choice. The story which results from it is apt to feel artificial and labored.”

He believes, like I did, that you just need to sit down and write the story and figure it out as it goes. He goes against what JK Rowling did (famously outline the entire 7 book series of the Harry potter saga) and says that to him, knowing the end is boring, he needs to write and then find out the ending. I believed the same.

Stephen King goes even further, stating that what comes out is stifled, artificial. In my opinion,sometimes that can be true. You may sit and do an outline for a particular scene, or a set of chapters of the main plot, and suddenly the characters take a life of their own, or you think of a plot twist as you write and then the whole outline for the scene just gets thrown out. So, then you have to start all over again. But again, this might be something good, that is the thing that I have been learning about outlines: it is a guide for the author, they’re not written in stone, which means you get to change them however and whenever you want. Yes, if you do, it takes longer and you have to rethink how the plot will follow now, or even toss it and go back to the original plan, but that’s what makes us writers. It is creating and crafting a story, and it will definitely take some time to do so, but that is why we sit at the keys for hours, day after day.

 It comes for the territory and personally even though we want to tear strands out of our hair sometimes, something good will come out of it, something we will be proud of and go, “well I never thought the plot would go this way”, or “oh, now I got this character into this problem and now the plot is even more interesting”. Even though at times we may go, “now I have to go back because this new idea didn’t work, so now I have to toss this chapter and go back to the original idea”. It doesn’t matter, you tried something, it didn’t work, nothing happens. Hit delete (or better yet save it just in case) and go back to the original plan and continue as if nothing had happened, cause really it is only between you and the paper or document on your computer screen.

We then have writers like J.K Rowling who not only believe in outlining, but she also famously wrote the last chapter of the Harry Potter saga almost from the beginning when she was working on the first book Harry Potter and the Philosopher´s stone, as a way to tell herself that she would eventually get there. (Talk about good planning and outlining!)

(This is an amazing and inspiring documentary done about her and everything related to her writing/plotting for the Harry Potter books. The part that I just mentioned is on minutes 55:31. If you wish to fast forward to it, although I recommend you watch it , if not for interest in the Harry Potter books themselves but for writing inspiration. It always gives me inspiration and reminds me why I love to write. )

So here you have two opposites: one passionately opposed to outlines, and one heavy outliner who has even written the ending before getting the first book done ( the documentary was from 2001 when some of the books had not even been written.)

So it begs the question; which one should I be as a writer? A plotter or a pantser?

Well, the short answer is: whatever you want, or even a little bit of both.

In my case, I am still a bit of the rebel I was back in the 5th grade with my teacher,and I still don’t like to outline…but then again, I have learned from my mistakes and I panic at the thought of hitting the “WTH do I do now?!” in my manuscripts.

So, what I have learned that works for me is having a bit of a vision, that is half an outline. I do outline, but not entirely. I have a general idea of what I am going to write, little bits here and there that I have to connect. Or I may have the overall idea of what the novel is about and I plan a few chapters ahead, the rest with a vague main idea for each Chapter/Act. That way I know what I will write (plotter) but then again I do not know exactly what each particular chapter  is about, or how I will get there (panster), yet with a vague vision of the possible ending.

What has honesty helped me the most, is using what I call the “JK Rowling method”. I try to see a possible ending to the novel or Act, for example. But again, since I am both a bit of a plotter and pantser, I keep an open mind and know that I might have a possible ending in mind, but by the time I reach it, I might have to change it.

Using this method of thinking about the ending was how I was able to finish my first novel. It gave me a sense of “I can do this!” since I had failed in other past attempts. So I have used it again and again and it has given me significant results. That was how I finished my second novel and how I am planning my series. And like I mentioned before, I might go back and change it. It’s not written in stone, and I have control over how it ends, which is the beauty of being a creative.

I hope this post was useful to you and, like many authors always say, what works for me might not work for you. Is all a matter of trying. So if you are unsure, try to create a general outline, see how it goes, how it feels. You might be like me, a little of both, or you might decide to go the plotter way or the panster way. Either way:

Happy writing!